Local pro sinks 12 birdies - just like Buttar

Monday, November 5, 2012

By Curtis Stock, Edmonton Journal

Kent Lee got his eighth – no misprint — hole-in-one at the Edmonton Country Club, dropping home a five-iron shot from 172 yards on No. 13 while playing with Ken Nordstrom and Bill Hanson. It came in the second round of the Country Club’s men’s club championship.

“It was crazy. Every putt I stood over went in,” said Buttar, who had 12 birdies and no bogeys.

It didn’t even start out that great.

“I birdied the first hole, but then I parred the next three holes, so I wasn’t thinking about anything special. I was just out with a bunch of buddies I play hockey with and having fun.”

But then Buttar got hot. Real hot.

“I birdied the next six holes. Then I started going, hmm, this could be good.”

He still had no idea as to just how good.

After a par on No. 11, Buttar then proceeded to birdie 12, 13 and 14.

“All of a sudden, I’m 10 under,” said Buttar, who recently won the Cobra Puma Golf Alberta PGA’s assistants championship held at Lewis Estates.

On a course he said he has played “a zillion times,” Buttar said “I knew I had a pretty good chance of going really low and maybe shooting a 59 as long as I didn’t screw it up on 15 or hitting it into the water on 17 or 18.

“I knew I could drive it close to the green on 16,” he said of the short 310-yard par 4 hole. “And I knew I could reach 18 in two,” he said of the 520-yard, par 5 finishing hole.

After a par on No. 15, Buttar did just that. He drove it just short and left on No. 16 and got up and down for birdie after chipping it to three feet.

Missing the green on the par 3 17th he was still able to get up and down for par.

That left just No. 18.

After a drive of just under 300 yards, Buttar was left with 230 yards to a front pin and a shot that had to clear a creek that fronts the green.

“I knew I couldn’t get a four-iron there, so I hit a hybrid. I killed it and it went over the green, leaving me with about a 60-foot chip. I ran it way past the pin and onto to the fringe. It was probably about 20 feet and I knocked that in, too.

“I made everything,” said Buttar, who grew up playing at Leduc Golf Course. “I hit it good and never got into trouble.”

Not surprisingly, it was Buttar’s lowest round.

“I shot a 60 one time on a nine-hole course in Texas and it was a really short course.”

He also shot a 61 at the Royal Mayfair which is that course’s unofficial (not played in a tournament) course record about a dozen years ago. “And that came with a three putt on No. 10.”

He said what really made it special was the guys he was playing with.

“Everyone in my group knew where I stood and so did the group behind.

“When that last putt fell in there was a lot of hooting, hollering and hugging. I think they were probably even happier than I was.”

As well as the 20-footer he made on No. 18, Buttar said he made a couple of other putts about the same distance for birdies on holes 6, 8 and 13.

“Other than the three-footer on No. 16, the rest of the birdie putts were between five and 10 feet.

“It will probably never happen again, so I’m enjoying it.”

Scene

This week’s holes-in-one are led off by the Journal’s Sandra Marocco, who won $10,000 when she aced the famed ‘Cleopatra’ hole at the Jasper Park Golf Club.

Playing with husband Emilio and Kevin and Tracy Benson, Marocco used a driver from 182 yards on the downhill par 3.

There were two holes-in-one at the new and great Quarry Golf Course.

Danny Ira aced No. 3 on the Granite nine from 173 yards, and Pete Martin aced No. 6 on the Granite with a hybrid from 224 yards.

At Glendale, it was Cam Nuttall, who aced No. 13 from 194 yards with a three-hybrid. His first hole-in-one, Nuttall was playing with Mike Yakemchuk, Doug Svarich and Don Schneider.

Kent Lee got his eighth – no misprint — hole-in-one at the Edmonton Country Club, dropping home a five-iron shot from 172 yards on No. 13 while playing with Ken Nordstrom and Bill Hanson. It came in the second round of the Country Club’s men’s club championship.

Rod Holmes said it took 46 years to happen, but he finally got a hole-in-one when he aced No. 12 at Devon from 132 yards with a seven-iron.

At Riverside, Rick McEachern had a hole-in-one on No. 14 from about 130 yards. Rick, who used an eight-iron, said his shot hit the hill on the left side of the green and “bounced wildly” off the slope and rolled into the hole. Rick said his ace was witnessed by his “dumbfounded” brother Alex and Bruce Kabaroff.

Katherina Hui aced No. 14 at Coloniale during the annual club championship.

Noted

Congratulations to Kevin Day, the teaching pro at Billy D’s Golf Center, who won a one-day Alberta PGA stop at Belvedere with a 69. Riverside’s Chris Toth tied for second with Belvedere’s assistant pro Adam Wisser, Belvedere’s head pro Kyle Brandt and Windermere’s Brandon Shier, who all shot 72s. The Ranch’s Murray McCourt was next with a 73.